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Though it may take just a smattering of green in one’s wardrobe to look festive, rare is the automobile that gets in the St Patrick’s spirit.

In today’s marketplace, green is out to pasture, adorning just 2% of new cars purchased in the US in 2012, and just 1% of cars globally, according to paint maker DuPont. The laws of attrition partly explain this paucity of green; fewer and fewer cars are even offered in the colour.

Forest green enjoyed some favour in the late 1990s, and more recently, hybrid versions of the Toyota Camry and Ford Escape have worn fresh minty shades, helping underscore their fuel-frugality. But whether shifting fashions or pushback from dealers is to blame, green is definitely passé.

Which, of course, makes the few greens there are on the road stand out even more. There are some spectacularly sophisticated shades out there, enabled by paint technologies that bring new hues to the spectrum. In celebration of the Emerald Isle and its most famous saint, we single out the 10 greens currently in production that are a credit to the colour.